As
UN
Confirms Ban
to Iran for
NAM, Questions
of Feltman
& Qatar on
Syria,
UNSC Echoes
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 22 --
After
bristling at
an online
read-out by
Israel's Bibi
Netanyahu, and
after being
spoken to more
quietly by
the US' Susan
Rice, Ban
Ki-moon's
office
Wednesday at
noon announced
that Ban will
in fact be
going to Iran
for the
Non-Aligned
Movement
meeting at the
end of August.
Inner
City Press,
which had
twice before
Wednesday
asking about
the trip,
questioned its
link to Ban's
top political
adviser
Jeffrey
Feltman's
briefing that
morning to the
Security
Council.
Feltman said
Ban is
concerned
about arms
flows to all
parties in
Syria, but
cited only
Resolution
1747, which
covers Iran's
exports. Are
Ban and
Feltman
equally
concerned
about exports
by Saudi
Arabia and
Qatar?
Ban's
spokesman
Martin
Nesirky, as
regards the
trip, said
that this
issue
will come up.
(At about the
same time in
closed door
Security
Council
consultations,
Inner City
Press has
learned,
Russia was
asking
Feltman why he
hadn't
mentioned
Qatar, telling
him to read
the
newspapers
more often.)
When
Inner City
Press asked if
Feltman had
advised Ban
against the
trip to
Iran, if there
was any
response,
Nesirky said
the response
is that
Ban "is
going."
Was
this known all
along? What is
its relation
to Team Ban's
pique at
Bibi? Last
Wednesday
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's deputy
spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey:
Inner
City Press:
There’s a
Haaretz story,
quoting
Benjamin
Netanyahu
having done a
readout of his
side of the
call that was
had, saying
that the UN
Office of the
Spokesman was
critical of
that. And so
I’ve asked you
before, what’s
the difference
with this
call? Was
it said by the
Secretary-General
that there
should be no
readout of
the call?
Because your
side does do
readouts--
Deputy
Spokesperson
Del Buey:
Matthew, we do
readouts
sometimes and
we don’t do
readouts
sometimes, and
we’re not
going to
comment on
calls that
may or may not
have taken
place last
week.
Inner
City Press: Is
this something
that’s decided
between the
Secretary-General
and the leader
at issue,
whether it’s
going to be
read out?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
The
Secretary-General
decides when
he wants a
readout
issued of a
meeting or a
phone call or
an encounter
of some type,
and
then the
readout is
issued.
Inner
City Press: So
is the other
side free to
do its own
readout
without
incurring any
anger or
dissatisfaction
from the
Secretary-General’s
Office? That’s
what happened
here. It’s
reported that
Bibi
Netanyahu put
it on the
Internet, what
he told Ban
Ki-moon, and
that
the UN didn’t
like that. And
I just wanted
to know is
that --
Deputy
Spokesperson:
I would say
that each side
is free to do
what it wants
to, but there
are courtesy
issues
involved. And,
normally, I
would
suggest that,
I know when
the
Secretary-General
does a
meeting,
normally when
he issues a
readout,
normally both
sides know
that
there’s going
to be a
readout
issued.
Israel
is
"all in" in
urging
non-attendance
in Tehran. And
in
Australia,
Shadow
Minister
Foreign for
Foreign
Affairs and
Trade
Julie Bishop
is urging
Permanent
Representative
to the UN Gary
Quinlan not to
go.
Non-shadow
Foreign
Minister Bob
Carr has said
Quinlan is
going.
Australia is
running for a
Security
Council seat,
against
Finland and
Luxembourg,
and may
remember what
happened to
Canada last
time, when it
lost out to
Germany and
Portugal.
Watch this
site.
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